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EU officials concluded that, following a three-year investigation, there was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact.

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

Last night, critics claimed the EU was at odds with both science and common sense. Conservative MEP Roger Helmer said: “This is stupidity writ large.

“The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true.

“If ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it.”

First, you have to consider the source of the information. The Telegraph is one of the most politicised papers in the UK and it has a very strong Conservative stance. Part of that is an anti-EU position: it will publish anything to whip up public feeling about 'EU madness'.

Secondly, the substance of the claim. I think this has to be seen in context of a crackdown on false advertising. For years, consumers have been bombarded with spurious health claims about foods. Health claims have been the marketer's weapon of choice for decades. Consumers have been missold everything from yoghurt to cornflakes - lies, lies and more lies, not backed up by a shred of scientific truth.

Now to the bottled water industry - they were amongst the biggest culprits of the lot in these ongoing health scams. For years, they implied or outright stated that bottled water is, froma health point of view, superior to tap water. Which it isn't. There have been grotesque cases where the spring water in third world countries have been monopolised by bottled water companies - leaving the indigineous occupants worse off, while their water was sent at huge environmental cost (plastic bottles, transport costs) to westerners who already had clean water.

That leads us to the disallowance of the claim. I'll admit that it seems a draconian ban, but I think there are two factors to consider:

1. The claim could be seen as promoting the idea that bottled water - specifically bottled - is more useful at preventing dehydration than anything else. In the same way, I'm not sure it would be right to promote tea as 'the anti-dehydration drink!' or to market potatoes as being 'useful to prevent low blood sugar.'

2. I think putting that on the side of the bottle plays into this fear we've all been brought up with: that everyone is in danger of dehydration, unless we keep topping up with water. And guess which industry promoted that idea? I'm not saying dehydration isn't a real danger under certain circumstances - if you work on a construction site in Texas, for example, or go mountain-biking in Moab. But it's just not true that the average sedentary person needs to drink when they're not thirsty, in case they dehydrate.

Maybe the EU have been really heavy-handed here, but it's a strike back against the hucksters and snake-oil merchants that have had their grimy hands in our pockets for too long.

The 'Idiocracy' references are indeed entirely apposite, as we've been the idiots that have bought something you can get free from a tap (sorry, faucet ), at a mark-up of approaching 10,000% ( I think that was the estimate on Pepsi's filtered water in the UK?)

Last edited by Tannhauser; 11-20-2011 at 03:26 PM.
Reason: To make sense

In the US the prime companies that hype hydration claims are the sports drink people.

Bottled water locally is rather harmless. Outside of Dasani, most of it isn't advertised, and is rarely hyped. Perhaps that is one of the reasons this looks odd to us.

In our area the water tastes quite bad and is very hard, so bottled water is popular. We have to filter everything we use for cooking or drinking. If not it turns your pans, dishes (and internal organs a deep orange in no time.